POND in Sydney – photos and review

Heather Vousden checked out the excellent POND and Peter Bibby at legendary Sydney venue, Oxford Art Factory last week. Here are her words/photographs:

Oxford Art Factory was packed to the brim for the highly anticipated Laneway sideshow performance of POND with support from Peter Bibby. Many fans arrived early on the night, just as eager to experience Peter Bibby live as they were the main act. It was great to see many of Sydney’s local music community out to support these great musicians as well as the usual music punters.

Peter was joined by his full band and POND’s frontman Nick Allbrook on drums. He played with a light-hearted, narrative style. He opened the night with folkier tunes before building up to some rockabilly-infused tracks working the crowd up for the night with a fast and loud tempo. He is great entertainer, both musically and also through the humourous banter he holds with the audience.

Peter had prepped the crowd perfectly for POND. The room was flooding with people in good spirits and no-one was budging from their firmly-held spaces at the front, near the stage. There was a positive vibe amongst all; it felt like everyone was there purely for great music and to enjoy it with people around them. As the momentum built, POND walked on to stage with cheery faces before amping the energy in the room with “Waiting around for Grace”. Since his earlier appearance on stage, Nick had added metallic coloured face paint to coat his cheeks and a fur hat to his head, playing off his playful personality. His persona transformed as he took on the lead role, entrancing the audience with his musicianship and encapsulating aura on stage.

“Elvis’ Flaming Star” followed with bouncy white beams of light framing the band member’s silhouettes as they belted out the jangly, Bowiesk tune.
“Zond” was a highlight on the night with the crowd going manic for the loud, upbeat, faster tempo, dancier track from their latest album: “Man it feels like Space Again”. “Sitting up on a Crane”, “Medicine Hat”, and the jangly funk rhythms of “Outside is the Right Side” were also standout tracks with the audience singing along as they played.

Nick Allbrook raised the bar higher as he made the leap in to the sea of hands, supported by the mosh-pit, surfing with his guitar overhead as he strummed. This was an all-time high after being showered in the tight, magical funk beats, blended with a twist of psychedelia, which makes POND’s music their own.

Collectively, it all combined to provide a stellar live set, which left smiles on everyone’s faces.